Tiger, tiger...

This is a backblip for yesterday, Saturday, as I was too busy decorating last night. Perhaps surprisingly, this is the first caterpillar that I have blipped, maybe on account of the lousy summer we had. This was one of two of these caterpillars on a ragwort plant in my local park. I think it may be the caterpillar of a ruby tiger moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa), a very widespread moth species in Britain and Europe. The caterpillars are apparently very cold-tolerant, one having been found, seemingly frozen, at -14 degrees C, only to commence moving once it had been warmed up. I'm not surprised that it can tolerate the cold - that looks like quite a fur coat it has!